Open-end textile spinning machines

ABSTRACT

A textile machine for the open-end spinning of textile yarns including a plurality of spinning stations each of which is provided with a trash collection chamber for collecting trash from fibre fed to a spinning element at the station, and trash removal apparatus comprising an air exhaust chamber common to the trash collection chambers for removing trash from the chambers. Each trash collection chamber having an outlet leading from the interior thereof and the air exhaust chamber having an inlet leading to its interior. Said machine including means for intermittently connecting each outlet and the inlet so as to provide an intermittent flow connection between each trash collection chamber and the air exhaust chamber whereby to purge the trash collection chambers of trash.

Unite States Patent [1 Lane [ OPEN-END TEXTILE SPINNING MACHINES [75] Inventor: Robert Lane, Accrington, England [73] Assignee: Platt International Limited, Oldham,

Lancashire, England [22] Filed: Nov. 30, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 203,163

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data 1 Dec. 11, 1973 2,634,560 4/1953 Ramm 1S/3l2 R X Primary Examiner-Harvey C. l-lornsby Assistant ExaminerC. K. Moore AttorneyWatson, Cole, Grindle & Watson [57] ABSTRACT A textile machine for the open-end spinning of textile yarns including a plurality of spinning stations each of which is provided with a trash collection chamber for collecting trash from fibre fed to a spinning element at the station, and trash removal apparatus comprising an air exhaust chamber common to the trash collection chambers for removing trash from the chambers. Each trash collection chamber having an outlet leading from the interior thereof and the air exhaust chamber having an inlet leading to its interior. Said machine including means for intermittently connecting each outlet and the inlet so as to provide an intermittent flow connection between each trash collection chamber and the air exhaust chamber whereby to purge the trash collection chambers of trash.

8 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTEDUEE 11 1975 SHKET 16? 2 V I I OPEN-END TEXTILE SPINNING MACHINES The present invention concerns machines for the open-end spinning of textile yarns and particularly trash disposal apparatus in such machines] 7 Spinning rotors in open-end spinning machines must be supplied with fibre which is free from seeds and other trash if orderly spinning is to proceed. The fibre is commonly obtained from a sliver by a rotating beater, the trash being thrown into a trash collection chamber by reason of its being heavier than the fibres. The trash gradually accumulates in the collection chamber and is removed from time to time by hand, which is a tedius and time consuming operation.

Continuous purging, for example, by a pneumatic arrangement, has been considered not feasible because a multi-station machine would require a copious air supply and moreover continuous purging of the trash collection chambers would waste a large quantity of usable fibre which would be extracted along with the trash.

An object of the present invention is to provide in an open-end spinning machine trash removal apparatus which does not suffer or does not suffer to the same extent from 'the'above disadvantages.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a textile machine for the open-end spinning of textile yarns including a plurality of spinning stations eachof which is provided with a trash col-v lection chamber for collecting trash from fibre fed to a spinning element at the station, and trash removal apparatus for removing trash from the chambers, comprising an air exhaust chamber common to the trash collection chambers, an outlet leading from the interior of each trash collection chamber and laterally offset from an inlet leading to the interior of the air exhaust chamber" and means for producing relative lateral movement between each outlet and the inlet so that they register intermittently to provide' a'fiow connection between each trash collection chamber and the air exhaust chamber'to purge the trash collection chamber of trash. v

In a preferred embodiment according to the first aspect of the invention, the inlet is associated with one of the 'outlets and further separate inlets leading to the interior of the air exhaust chamber are provided for the others of said outlets. The outlet for each trash collec-' tion chamber may include a trash box which is moveable between a purge position in which an outlet aperture therein is in register with the associated inlet of the air exhaust chamber and a non-purge position in which it is out of register with the inlet. The said means for producing relative lateral movement'may comprise an endless flexible member which can be advanced to cause a lobe thereon to displace each trash box in turn from the non-purge position to the purge position.

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a textile machine for. the openend spinning of textile yarns including a plurality of spinning stations each of which is provided with a trash collection chamber for collecting trash from fibre fed to a spinning element at the station, and trash removal apparatus comprising an air exhaust chamber cbmmon to the trash collection chambers and a moveable shutter for so connecting and then disconnecting each trash collection chamber to and from the air exhaust chamber that the trash collection chambers are intermittently purged of trash.'Th e shutter is normally arranged to connect only one trash collection chamber at a time to the air exhaust chamber, disconnection of that chamber being completed before connection of the next trash collection chamber is made. A filter removes trash from the air exhausted from the air exhaust chamber. V

In one embodiment according to the second aspect of the present invention, each trash collection chamber leads to an outlet port individual thereto, the outlet ports register with inlet ports provided in one wall of the air exhaust chamber and the shutter is in the form of an endless belt which has'an aperture therein and which is moveable between the registering ports for pcriodically creating a flow passage between each outlet and inlet port through the belt aperture. The air exhaust chamber is preferably of elongate form with the inlet ports arranged in a row therealong and the exhaustchamber serves a row of trash collection chambers. The belt aperture may be in the form of a slot extending in the direction of travel of the belt In another embodiment according to the second aspect of the present invention, each trash collection chamber has an outlet leading to a trash collection port in the air exhaust chamber, the air exhaust chamber is cylindrical with the collection ports arranged around the circumference thereof and the moveable shutter comprises a rotatable distributor mounted inside the air exhaust chamber with a single port therein for uncovering one collection port at a time, thereby connecting each trash collection chamber in turn to the interior of the air exhaust chamber.

I Two embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a part of a trash removal apparatus according to a first embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a front elevation partly in section of trash removal apparatus according to'a second embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a section of the'apparatus shown in FIG. 2, taken on the line III-III in FIG. 2; and

' FIG.4 is a diagrammatic elevation partly in section of a spinning station of an open-end spinning machine from which trash is removed by the apparatus illustrated in FIGfl or FIGS. 2 and 3.

Referring firstly to FIG. I, the trash removal apparatus shown includes an'air exhaust chamber in the form of an elongate sheet-metal air exhaust duct 2 of rectangular section, which is closed at one end and which leads at its other end to a filter chamber of a suction device (not shown). The duct 2 extends along the length of an open-end spinning machine which has a plurality of spinning stations therealong.

Each spinning station as illustrated in FIG. 4 of the drawings includes a spinning rotor l to the interior of which fibres in discrete form are fed through a fibre feed duct 3 from an opening roller 5 which receives fibres from a feed roller 7 cooperating in conventional manner with a feed plate 9 which is fed with fibres in the form of a roving or sliver ll. Trash separated out from the fibres by the opening roller 5 is discharged through a duct 13 into a trash collection chamber 15. The chamber 15 is provided with an outlet tube 19 which is connected by a flexible trash conveying tube 21 to a trash inlet tube 10 of the trash removal ap'para; tus shown in FIG. 1

Referring again to FIG. 1, the tube of the first spinning station terminates at its lowermost open end in a trash box 12 which is mounted on a side wall 6 of the duct 2 for vertical sliding movement in a pair of vertical slideways 14. A trash box of the same form as the box 12 and mounted in the same manner on the side wall 6 of the duct 2 is provided at each of the other spinning stations along the machine and receives a trash inlet tube of the same form as the tube 10 and connected to the trash collecting chamber at that spinning station.

Each trash box 12 is formed with a rectangular aperture 16 and there is formed in the side wall 6 of the duct 2 an aperture 8 of the same size as the aperture 16. The tube 10 is a sliding fit in the top of the trash box 12 and stops are provided'in the slideways 14 to support the trash box 12 in the position shown in FIG. 1 in which the aperture 16 is tedious and out of register with the aperture 8. The box 12 is provided at the base thereof with a semi-circular cam follower 20.

An endless belt 22 is supported and driven by an arrangement of rollers one of which is shown in the drawing and indicated by the reference numeral 24. The upper run of the belt which is supported by a smooth flat horizontal rail 26 extends along the length of the machine beneath the trash boxes 12. Two trapezoidal lobes, one of which is illustrated and indicated by the reference numeral 28 are fixed to the belt 22 in such positions that when one lobe is progressing along the length of the machine with the upper run of the belt 22 the other lobe is returning with the lower run of the belt. Each lobe as it advances with the upper run of the belt engages the cam follower of each trash box 12 in turn causing the trash box to be raised to a position in which the aperture 16 therein comes into register with the aperture 8. The trash box remains at the registering position during the traverse of the cam follower 20 by the plateau formed on the lobe, whereafter it returns to the position shown in the drawing in which the aperture 16 is again out of register with the aperture 8.

A partial vacuum is created in the duct 2 by the suction device connected thereto and the belt 22 is driven continuously by a drive imparted to a drive roller (not shown). As each lobe progresses in turn along the upper run of the belt the trash boxes are raised and lowered seriatim and trash from each box is sucked into the duct 2 and extracted at the filter of the suction device.

It will be appreciated that while the trash box 12 is provided in addition to the trash collection chamber 15, the latter can, if desired, be omitted and the trash box 12 made to serve as the trash collection chamber into which trash is deposited direct from the trash duct 13 via the tube 10.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3, an air exhaust duct 2 extends along the length of the machine and is connected via a trunk 17 to a suction device (not shown). A top wall 30 of the duct 2 is provided with a port 40 in the vicinity of each spinning station and the tube 10 connected to the spinning station is arranged to pass vertically downwardly through a support frame 36 of channel section to terminate with its open lower end in register with the port 40 but vertically spaced therefrom by a few millimetres.

A flexible belt 22 runs along the upper surface of the top wall 30 beneath'the ends of the tubes 10 and a plastic sealing ring 42 floats on the end of each tube 10'and seals the belt 22 to the open end of the tube. The upper run of the belt 22 is, as shown, carried round on two end rollers 44 and 46 and the lower run of the belt is supported as shown by a reverse roller 48. The roller 46 drives a cylindrical brush 50 for cleaning the belt 22. The belt 22 is driven by a pair of nip rollers 52 from an electric motor 54 and a tension roller 56 is provided to bear against the run of the belt between the nip rollers 52 and the reverse roller 48. The belt 22 is provided with two slots, one only of which is shown in the drawings and indicated by the reference numeral 58, the other being spaced from the slot 58 by equal distances in opposite directions along the belt so that one slot is progressing along the top wall 30 of the duct 2 while the other is returning along the lower run of the belt.

In the operation of the trash removal apparatus as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, suction is applied to the duct 2 through the trunk 17 by the operation of the suction device and the belt 22 is set in motion by starting the electric motor 54. The sealing rings 42 on the ends of the tubes 10 ride on the upper surface of the upper run of the belt 22 which normally cuts off communication between the ducts 10 and the air exhaust duct 2. As the upper run of the belt 22 progresses along the top wall 30 of the duct 2, the slot 58 in the belt passes between the end of each tube 10 and the duct aperture 40 directly beneath it, establishing a flow connection from the trash collection chamber 15 connected to the tube 10 and the air exhaust duct 2. As will be seen, the slot 58 extends in the direction of traverse of the belt and its length together with the speed of the belt determines the length of time for which the trash collection chamher is connected to the air exhaust duct 2. Furthermore, it will be seen that in the illustrated embodiment, only one trash collection chamber is connected to the exhaust duct 2 at any one time. In a machine with one hundred stations the purging cycle of each trash box may be arranged to be of the order of seconds.

The belt 22 is preferably a fabric faced plastic belt about two millimetres thick and as illustrated somewhat less in width than the top wall 30 of the duct 2.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A textile machine for the open-end spinning of textile yarns including a plurality of spinning stations, each station being provided with a trash collection chamber for collecting trash from fiber fed to a spinning element at the station, said machine also including trash removal apparatus comprising an air exhaust chamber common to the trash collection chambers and moveable shutter means for connecting and disconnecting each trash collection chamber and the air exhaust chamber so that the trash collection chambers are intermittently purged of trash, each trash collection chamber leading to an outlet port individual thereto, wherein the outlet ports register with inlet ports provided in one wall of the air exhaust chamber, and wherein the shutter means comprises an endless belt which has an aperture therein and which is moveable between the registering ports for periodically creating a flow passage between each outlet and inlet port through the belt aperture.

2. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the shutter means is arranged to connect only one trash collection chamber at a time to the air exhaust chamber, disconnection of that chamber being completed before connection of the next trash collection chamber is made.

3. A machine as claimed in claim 2, wherein the air exhaust chamber is of elongate form with the inlet ports arranged in a row therealong and wherein the exhaust chamber serves a row of trash collection chambers.

4. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the belt aperture is a slot extending in the direction of travel of the belt.

5. A machine as claimed in claim 4, wherein the air exhaust chamber is of elongate form with the inlet ports arranged in a row therealong and wherein the exhaust chamber serves a row of trash collection chambers. 

1. A textile machine for the open-end spinning of textile yarns including a plurality of spinning stations, each station being provided with a trash collection chamber for collecting trash from fiber fed to a spinning element at the station, said machine also including trash removal apparatus comprising an air exhaust chamber common to the trash collection chambers and moveable shutter means for connecting and disconnecting each trash collection chamber and the air exhaust chamber so that the trash collection chambers are intermittently purged of trash, each trash collection chamber leading to an outlet port individual thereto, wherein the outlet ports register with inlet ports provided in one wall of the air exhaust chamber, and wherein the shutter means comprises an endless belt which has an aperture therein and which is moveable between the registering ports for periodically creating a flow passage between each outlet and inlet port through the belt aperture.
 2. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the shutter means is arranged to connect only one trash collection chamber at a time to the air exhaust chamber, disconnection of that chamber being completed before connection of the next trash collection chamber is made.
 3. A machine as claimed in claim 2, wherein the air exhaust chamber is of elongate form with the inlet ports arranged in a row therealong and wherein the exhaust chamber serves a row of trash collection chambers.
 4. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the belt aperture is a slot extending in the direction of travel of the belt.
 5. A machine as claimed in claim 4, wherein the air exhaust chamber is of elongate form with the inlet ports arranged in a row therealong and wherein the exhaust chamber serves a row of trash collection chambers.
 6. A textile machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein a filter is provided for removing trash from air exhausted from said air exhaust chamber.
 7. A machine according to claim 1, wherein the air exhaust chaMber is connected to a suction device.
 8. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the air exhaust chamber is of elongate form with the inlet ports arranged in a row therealong and wherein the exhaust chamber serves a row of trash collection chambers. 